Yi Dash Camera Review

The Yi Dash Camera is a specialized version of the Yi Action Cam. Don’t confuse the two, as the Yi Dash Cam is a different product. Based on the action cam, it has been upgraded and optimized for usage as a car DVR.

Note that this camera is sometimes wrongly referred to as “Xiaomi Yi Dash Cam”, however that’s not it’s real name. The Yi Dash Camera is produced by the Chinese company Yi Technology, which has no legal ties to Xiaomi (another Chinese company that produces mobile phones and other gadgets, but as of today isn’t making any dash cams).

Simplicity is a big plus of this product: While it covers all the dash cam basics, it comes without many of the bells and whistles that many other, more expensive devices have. The menu is mainly icon based and quite intuitive to use.

Wi-Fi is supported to connect to an Android or iOS smartphone (free app available), and the camera has a comfortably sized 2.7″ screen with 4 buttons for easy operating. Loop recording, time/date stamp, G-sensor, and auto on/off are also supported; no GPS or parking mode, though.

At 165 degrees, the angle of view is quite large. This causes some warping near the edges of the screen. However, video quality is still very good, especially at night time. For its price, the camera records surprisingly well in low light conditions, with a colorful image and lots of visible detail even on dark roads.

The Yi claims to be able to record at resolutions up to 1296p with a frame rate of 30fps, however this resolution appears to be interpolated. That said, the camera is able to record high quality video at a resolution of 1080p with frame rates of 30 or 60fps.

If you choose to record 1080p@60fps, make sure to use a high quality SD card (the manufacturer suggest 80Mbps read speed or more). For other resolutions (1296p@30 or 1080p@30), a normal class 10 SD card will suffice.

While this dash cam isn’t as stealthy and doesn’t have as many features as the Viofo A119 for example, its larger screen and simple menu structure make it easier to use even for the technically challenged.

Yi Dash Camera Video Samples

For full original video quality, make sure to watch on full screen and select maximum video resolution (use the cog icon in lower right corner). You may have to rewind the video after changing the resolution.

Where To Buy

Oct 13, 2017 — Note: A matte black version of this camera is now available, currently only on eBay. This version is currently only available in Chinese, but menus are very straightforward and thus easy to use even for non-Chinese speakers.